Torpedo



Nov. 10, 1936. 1 H, HAMMQND, 1R 2,060,206

TORPEDO Filed Feb. 6, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 04V 3l l /NVENT fw *M Nov. 10,.-1936.

J. H. HAMMOND, JR

TORPEDO Filed Feb. 6, 1935 5 Sheets-She /N VEA/TOR B Y A 1f A TTORNE YS Patented Nov. l0, 1936 STATES This invention relates to ordnance devices and more particularly to torpedoes.

According to one form of the invention, a

torpedo is provided with a control mechanism which includes a light-sensitive device controlling the detonation of the explosive charge of the torpedo when the latter passes beneath a ship. The light-sensitive device, as for example a photoelectric cell, is energized by the light of 10 day transmitted through the water lying above the torpedo. When the torpedo passes beneath the ship, the shadow causes the de-energization of the photoelectric cell, which energizes the control mechanism arranged to cause the detonation of the war head.`

As most modern warships rare provided on their sides with sc-called blisters" which make the explosion of a torpedo ineffective to cause a serious damage to the ship proper, it has been 2 found necessary to detonate the torpedo beneath the center of 'a ship in Y,order to cause any serious damage to the ship. In order to accomplish this result it is necessary to operate the torpedo at a depth several feet greater than the draft 25 of the ship being attacked. Passage of the torpedo beneath the ship will thus be assured in spite of the unevenness of the course travelled by the torpedo, the variable draft of the enemy ship according to loading, and the effect of a seaway upon the torpedo.

The invention provides means for dierentiating between the shadow effects produced by a cloud and those produced by the hull of a ship. The shadow produced by a cloud is different 35 from that produced by a ship, as a cloud is at a greater distance from the torpedo than a ship so that its shadow is not as dense and the boundaries of it are not as clearly dened as those produced by a ship. The edge of a shadow 40 produced by a cloud is quite diffused, due to the defraction of the light along the edges of the cloud, and due also to the light received from other parts of the sky not obscured by clouds. In the case of the shadow of a ship, however, the edge of the shadow is very clearly defined, because of the torpedo being directed in a course close to the hull of the ship. Thus the change in intensity of light illuminating the torpedo when the latter passesy beneath the hull of a 50 ship, is very rapid, whereas the change in in- -tensity of light when the torpedo passes into the shadow of a cloud is much more gradual. The depth of the shadow beneath a ship is also greater than that produced by a cloud, as substantlally all the light from above is cut off by the hull of a ship, whereas light from other portions of the sky illuminates the shadow produced by a cloud.

This invention relates to means for differentlating between the rapidity of light changes, 5 so that when the intensity of the light which falls upon a torpedo changes rapidly, as it does when the torpedo passes beneath the hull of a ship, the detonation of the explosive charge carried by the torpedo will be effected. On the 10 other hand, when the light intensity changes gradually, as it does when the torpedo passes into the shadow of a cloud, the mechanism controlling the detonation of the war head will not be operated. l5

The invention also consists .in certain new and original features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself as to its objects and advantages, the mode of its operation and the manner of its organization may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which;

Fig. 1 represents diagrammatically the forward portion of a torpedo provided with this invention;

Fig. 2 shows various curves for changes of light intensity;

Fig. 3 depicts curves of voltage variations produced by the changes of light intensity;

Fig. 4 illustrates curves for the voltage control of a gas tube; and

Fig. 5 diagrammatically illustrates the course of a torpedo attacking an enemy vessel.

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several gures of the drawings.

In the following description and in the claims, parts will be identied by specic names for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application to simnar parts as the art will permit. I

Referring to the accompanying drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a water-borne body such as a carrier of explosives having a water-tight torpedo hull I0, and arranged to be propelled by propellers (not shown) located at the after end. The hull l0 is provided with two transverse bulkheads Il and I2, thus providing two compartments I3 and I4, the 55 former being nlled with an explosive charge l5, such, for example, as TNT.

' An aperture is provided in the hull i 6 at the top oi compartment it. This aperture is covered by a sheet |6 of glass or other transparent material. Mounted below the opening in the hull i6 is receptacle or tube i1, at the lower end of which is mounted a lens i8. 'I'he interior of the tube l1 is painted a at b1 to prevent the reection of any light. Mounte in the tubefll is an iris diaphragm 9, which is controlled by a rotatable plate 26. This plate is provided at one side with a segmental gear 2l which meshes with a pinion 22 secured to a shaft 23 which is rotatably mounted inthe casing of the tube lli. The upper end of the shaft 23 is enlarged to provide a square shaped socket 25. This socket projects through a circular opening in the hull it), and is adapted to be engaged by a square shaped wrench (not shown), or other tool, for the purpose of rotating the gear 22 and thereby turning the plate 26, thereby to adjust the size of the opening in the iris diaphragm i9. 'This diaphragm mechanism is of a standard and well-known construction, and need not be more fully described herein. A packing 26 is lprovided beneath the socket 25 to provide a water-tight joint for the shaft 23.

Positioned at the focus of the lens i6 is a photoelectric cell 3l, one side of which is connected to the negative terminal oi a battery 32 and the other side to a choke coil 33. A bias battery 3d and a resistance 35 are connected across the input ,circuit of a resistance coupled amplifier 36. A

condenser 31 is connected between the choke 33 and the resistance 35. The output circuit of the amplifier 36 includes a resistance 33 and a plate battery 39, across which are connected a. bias battery 40, a potentiometer 6| 'and\a condenser 62.

'Ihe potentiometer di is connected in the input circuit of an ampliiier 5, the output circuit of which includes a choke coil 46 and a plate battery 41 across which are connected a second choke coil 68 and a battery 49. A condenser 50 is located between the chokes 46 and 48. Connected across the choke 48 and the battery 49 is a gaseous tube (such as a neon lamp), a resistance 52 and a bias battery 53. The resistance 52 and the battery 53 are connected in the input circuit of a D. C. operated' tube 55, the output circuit of which includes the winding of a relay 56.

A safety mechanism 60 is provided to ensure .that the circuit which includes the detonator will remain open and the detonator will not be actuated until after the torpedo is launched. 'I'his mechanism includes a clock-work mechanism 6| which drives a commutator 62 having a conducting segment 63. To the shaft of the commutator 62 is secured an arm 65, which normally engages a pin 66. A second pin 61 isprovided for limiting the motion of the arm 65 and the commutator 62.

For automatically sta-rting the clock-work mechanism 6|, a heavy weight 68 is secured to the endrof a at spring 6,9, the upper end of which is xed to the end of the housing of the clock-work mechanism 6|. The weight 68 is provided with a projection which normally engages a iin-ger 1| which controls the starting of the clock-work mechanism. Engaging the end of the finger 1| is a spring 12 which is supported on a bracket 13.

Engaging the commutator 62 are two brushes 15 and 16. The brush is connected to the contact of the relay 56, and the brush 16 is connected' through a battery 11 to a detonator 18 positioned in the explosive charge I5. The other side of the aoeaaoc detonator 16 is connected to the amature of the relay 56.

In the operation of this system when the torpedo is fired, the inertia of the weight 66 causes it to be moved backward relative to the torpedo, thus disengaging the projection 16 from the finger 'il which is moved upward under the action of the spring 1t, thus causing the clock-work mechanism to start turning the commutator 62 at a predetermined speed, under its own power. This rotation will continue until the zur. 65 engages the pin 61, at,which time the segment 63 will have moved into engagement with the brushes l5 and 16, thus connecting the detonator i6 to the relay 56. Thus, any accidental detonatio-n oi the .explosive charge l5 is prevented while the torpedo is on or near the firing ship.

As the torpedo proceeds toward its objective, the photoelectric cell 3i is illuminated by the light transmitted from the sky through the water above the torpedo. In order that the photoelectric cell 3l may always receive approximately the same amount of illumination, independent of the condition oi the weather, the iris diaphragm i9 may be adjusted before the torpedo is launched, by means of a wrench inserted in the socket 25, thus compensation vmay be made for any variations of illumination. Thus, for example, on a clear day the iris diaphragm will be set in a partially closed position, on a day it will be set at a slightly more open position, and on a cloudy day it will be set at a wide open position.

With the photoelectric cell 6i receiving the normal amount of illumination. la xed current will ow from the battery 32 through the choke coil 33 and photoelectric cell 3|, this current being determined by the resistance of the cell 3| under normal illumination. Under these conditions the bias on the amplier 36 will be determined by the voltage of the battery 35i and the resistance 35, this amplier operating as a normal resistance coupled amplier.

This condition is maintained until the torpedo passes beneath the hull of an enemy ship as'indicated at 95 in Fig. 5, at which time the light illuminating the photoelectric cell 3| is rapidly decreased, as shown by the steep curve 6i oi' Fig. 2. This causes a rapid increase in the resistance of the cell 3l, thus causing a rapid decrease of the current through the choke 33which builds up a pulse of energy which depends upon the rapidity of theI resistance change in cell 3l. This pulse of energy is depicted by the curve 82 of Fig. 3.

This pulse of energy will pass through the condenser 31 and through the resistance 35 in the direction of the arrow, thus producing a positive potential, which will decrease the bias on the tube 36, thus allowing more currentl to ow through the amplier 36 and the resistance 38 in the direction of the arrow. This will cause an increase of negative potential on the potentiometer 4|, which will increase the bias on the tube 45, thereby cutting down the output current of this tube. This will cause an increase of the positive potential on the gaseous tube 5|.

The steady voltage across the gaseous tube 5| is produced by the sum of the voltages of the batteries 49 and 53, as indicated by the straight line 85 in Fig. 4, and is not sumcient to break it down and let current pass. The sudden increase of positive potential on the gaseous tube 5| is indicated by the curve 86, which extends above the break down voltage of the tube, indicated by the batteries 49 and 53 to now through the gaseous v tube 5I and resistance 52 in the direction of the the current iiow, which is indicated by the broken line 89. 1

The ilow of current through the resistance 52 in the direction of the arrow will produce a positive potential on the grid of the tube 55 which will oppose the biasing potential produced by the battery 53. This will reduce the bias on the grid of the tube 55 sufliciently to allow current to iiow through it and through the relay 56, thus energizing this relay. close a circuit from the battery 11 through the contacts 16 and 15 and segment 63, to the detonator 18 which will be set off, thereby exploding the charge I5 directly beneath the hull of the enemys ship.

It is thus seen that, after a voltage pulse from the plate circuit of tube 45 has started a current iiow through the gaseous tube 5l, it will be maintained after the pulse has subsided, thereby allowing time for the operation of the relay 56.

Ifjthe torpedo on its way to its target should pass into the shadow of a cloud, as shown at 96 in Fig. 5, the intensity of the light illuminating the photoelectric cell 3l will decrease gradually as depicted by the curve 88 of Fig. 2. This gradual decrease of illumination will cause a gradual increase of resistance of the photoelectric cell 3|, thus causing a small pulse of energy to pass through the condenser 31, as shown by the curve 90 of Fig. 3. This will cause a small increase of current in the output circuit of the tube 36, thus producing a small increase of negative potential on the grid of the tube 45. 'I'his in turn will cause a decrease of current passing through the tube 45 which will cause a slight increase of potential on the gaseous tube 5i, as shown by curve 9| of Fig. 4. This, however, will be less than the 4necessary breakdown potential of this tube, so that no current will ow through the resistance 52, and the condition of the amplier 55 will remain unchanged, thus maintaining the relay 56 deenergized and preventing the detonation of the explosive charge I5.

The constants of the circuit may be suitably chosen so that the contrast between rapid and slow impulses occurring in the resistance 35 may be further increased and, in addition, may be so chosen that the pulses occurring in the amplifier will be of a unidirectional and non-oscil- Advantage may be taken of the quenching effect of the gaseous tube 5I to give non-oscillatory characteristics. The choke coils 33, 46 and 48 may be wound with resistance wire latory nature.

` to dampen the system.

Fig. 3 depicts the curve of potential at the hot end of the choke coil 33. The areas under the curves 82 and 90 are equal for equal changes of current in the photoelectric cell 3l. I'herefore the greater the distinction between the change of illumination of cell 3l, either as to the amount of change or the speed of change, the greater will be the distinction between the amplitude of the pulses transmitted to the ampliiier.

`The clock-work mechanism 6I may also be used tov render the ampliiier operative, preferably by arranging the same to control the energization of the iilaments, whereby the thermal time lag will be .sufllcient to prevent a pulse ln choke 45 from operating the gaseous tube 5I.

It will be understood that the batteries may be grouped together into a common power supply circuit, that tubes may be of types other than tubes of the three-electrode type. that thermal detonatlon may be employed. and that other obvious modiflcations may be made.

Potentiometer 4I is` provided as a gain control of the ampliiler, which may be set from time to time if the tubes or batteries should change through aging.

It will be thus seen that as long as the torpedo is illuminated the mechanism will be kept in an inoperative position, but as soon as the illumination is decreased at a suillciently rapid rate the explosive charge carried by the torpedo will be detonated; however, if the illumination is decreased at a gradual rate the explosive charge will not be detonated. In this way a very ei'lective means is provided for differentiating between the shadow produced by an enemy ship and the shadows produced by clcuds.

Although only a few of the various forms in which this invention may be embodied have been shown herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any specic construction, but might be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the 'invention or the scope oi the appended claims.

What is claimed is: i

1. In combination with a moving body, an explosive charge carried thereby, light-responsive means mounted on said body for receiving light from an external source, and a detonator operated by said light responsive means for detonating said explosive charge when the intensity of illumination is diminished more rapidly than a predetermined rate.

2. In a moving body, an explosive charge, means for detonating said charge, a light-sensitive device, an amplifier and a power circuit controlled by said light-sensitive device for operating said detonating means, and means active when the illumination on said light-sensitive device is changed at a predetermined rate, to cause a pulse of energy to be transmitted to said ampliiler to cause operation of said power circuit.

3. In combination with a moving body, an explosive charge, light-sensitive means, an ampliiier controlled by said means, a gaseous tube controlled by the output of said amplier, a power circuit operated by the discharge of said gaseous tube, and detonating means for detonating said explosive charge and controlled by the output of said power circuit.

4. In a torpedo, an explosive charge, a detonator for said explosive charge, light-sensitive means for receiving illumination from an external source, and means active upon a predetermined rate of change of the intensity of illumination upon said light-sensitive means for energizing said detonator.

5. In atorpedo, an explosive charge, a detonator for said charge, light-sensitive means for receiving illumination from an external source, means active upon a predetermined rate of change o! the intensity of illumination upon said light-sensitive means for energizing said detonator, and means for adjustably controlling the intensity of illumination receivable by said light-sensitive means.

6. In a torpedo, an explosive charge, a detonator for said explosive charge, light-sensitive means `said gaseous conduction tube to eect energization of said detonator.

8. In a torpedo, an explosive charge, a detonator for said charge, light-sensitive means, means for energizing said detonator and including a gaseous lconduction tube operable by an energy impulse of predetermined intensity, and means.

actuated by the change of intensity of illumination of said light-sensitive means at a predetermined rate for supplying an energy impulse to said gaseous conduction tube to effect energization thereof.

9. In a torpedo, an explosive charge, a detonator therefor, light-sensitive means, control means operable by a predetermined energy impulse, means actuated by a predetermined rate of change of the intensity of illumination upon said light-sensitive means for producing an energy impulse suilicient to actuate said 'control means, and means for adjustably controlling the intensity of light receivable by said light-sensitive means.

10. Ina torpedo, an explosive charge, a. detonator for said charge, actuating means operable by an energy impulse of. predetermined intensity for energizing said detonator, light-sensitive means and means controlled by said light-sensitive means for supplying to said actuating means an energy impulse having an intensity corresponding to the rate of change of the intensity of illumination on said light-sensitive means.

11. In a torpedo, an explosive charge, a detonator for said charge, means including a gaseous conduction tube and active upon a flow of current in said tube for energizing said detonator, light-sensitive means, and means controlled by said light-sensitive means and active upon a predetermined rate of change in intensity of the illumination on said light-sensitive means to supply an energy impulse to said gaseous conduction tube of suicient intensity to eiect a iow of current through said tube.

12. In a torpedo, an explosive charge, a detonator for said charge, light-sensitive means, control means active upon a predetermined rate of change in the intensity of illumination upon said light-sensitive means for actuating said detonator, lock-out means for rendering said control means ineiective to actuate said detonator, and means actuated by the initial forward movement of said torpedo for releasing said lock-out means.

13. In combination a water-home body, an explosive charge carried by said body, light receptive means carried by said body and means active upon a predetermined rate of change in the intensity of illumination received by said light receptive means for discharging said explosive charge.

14. In combination, a moving body, a utility carried thereby, means mounted on said body and responsive to radiations received from an external source and means controlled by said i'lrst means for operating said utility when said body enters the shadow of a second body which, produces a predetermined rate of change in the radiations received from said external source.

l5. In a torpedo, a utility, means carried by said torpedo adapted to receive radiations from an external source and means operable by said first means to operate said utility when said torpedo enters the shadow of a ship under conditions such that a predetermined rate of change is effected in the radiations received by said first means.

JOHN HAYS HAMMOND, Jn. 

